1934/Dog Days

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Dog Days
Date of Scene: 01 June 2020
Location: Bronx
Synopsis: Kainashi, Vorpal, Alopex, Raphael and Donatello are all on various rooftops when a spontaneous one-sided game of Tag commences.
Cast of Characters: Kainashi, Alopex, Raphael, Donatello, Terry O'Neil




Kainashi has posed:
    usually they're called the 'dog days' thanks to some Sirius-ly old item in the sky, but today?

    Today, the dog days were for one canine.

    Clad in a form-fitting black shirt and black tactical pants, her red tail showing as she pops her head over an air conditioner, her ears rising up as she takes stock in the surroundings in the early evening, the colors of dusk still painting the sky lovely. Her nose twitches. Her tail gives a wag, and she times it as a car pulls up.

    "... one eighty-two... and a fifth?"

    The delivery person in a cheery, home-made jacket advertising a particular order-online-delivery service looks around in an annoyed fashion.

    "... not again."

Alopex has posed:
        These are the -worst- days of the year.

Sure, when Alopex was living her first life, the change in seasons brought a new coat and a bit more tolerance to the heat. In her current life, however, the summer was the worst. It was a tradeoff. She was nigh-untouchable by the weather in the colder months. However, in the summer? It was awful. Just. Plain. Awful.

She was sitting not far off, the promise of dinner brought by driver keeping her spirits up, despite the withering weather. "Again, he says. Have we ordered to this spot before..?"

Raphael has posed:
Time for a patrol, with Raphael and Donatello pairing up this evening. Their path takes them a bit away from Brooklyn, into the Bronx, as they switch from sewer tunnels to rooftops once in the area.

"I dunno about you, but I'm itching for a little action tonight. Kinda hoping we find a gang or somethin' ta bust up. I got a little aggression I want to work out," he says as they pause to look down into the alleys and streets below. There's enough of a breeze to catch the tail of his bandana and set it to flutter.

Donatello has posed:
    "I know," Donnie replies with a nod, a sprinkle of exhaustion in his voice. "But even better...Maybe that electronics store over on 5th is throwing out some good stuff, tonight!" A turtle can dream, can't he?

    Donnie vaults from one rooftop, over an alley, and next to his older brother. He shuffles closer to get a better look at the streets below. "I mean, it's /really/ bad for the environment, you know, that they just throw that stuff out...But I'm not complaining." After all, a guy has to do machines somehow!

Terry O'Neil has posed:
~Hot town, summer in the city
Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty
Been down, isn't it a pity
Doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city
All around, people looking half dead
Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head
~



That's John Sebastian and the Lovin' Spoonful, blasting into one of Vorpal's ears. The earbud is clipped to his right ear, while his left ear is left open. The Cheshire cat leaps from rooftop to rooftop, not so much patrolling right now as getting back in touch with his parkouring roots. He isn't subtle, with his distinctive fur color and all, but he is trying to play it down a little by using black athletic gear.

The turtles are not visible to him, from his angle, but he sure is visible to them from where they are. As he vaults over a rooftop ventilation unit (literal cat-vault even), he is singing along with the music... somewhat off-key, but very enthusiastically.

Kainashi has posed:
    "Dunno. Don't think so. When's the last time we found a twenty?" Kainashi asks, her tail giving a slight wag before she pauses. Her ears draw up.

    Someone's singing, sounds like fun! And also running. The sound of footfalls striking the rooftops. Kainashi shifts her weight, her head tilting slightly as she turns in the direction, and her muscles start to twitch, split between the food and a *possible enemy* ... or friend!

Alopex has posed:
    The fox gives a shrug, "I'm... not sure.." Though lately the fox has had more access to cash than Kai may have realized. And a laptop! Good deeds pay off, right? That aside, when the pup seems to perk up, alopex decides to have a look as well. "Food here?" she asks before having a look around and down at the street. "More than one, huh? Well, priorities, we don't want to waste the delivery guy's time, right?"

Raphael has posed:
The turtles have no deliveries expected here tonight, but maybe they should have had a pizza or two set up as a snack break during their traversing of the city. Next time...next time.

Raphael rolls his eyes at Donatello. "How about you take a look before we're done, and if there's anything good we can come back later with the Shellraiser?" he suggests, then he holds up a hand for silence, closing it into a fist to halt.

There follows a nod in the direction of the singing, a furrowing of his brows behind the red mask. That is the direction he heads in, rather than the electronics store. "Thought I saw someone with a tail," he shares, voice low.

Donatello has posed:
    Pizza would be good, though electronic surplus would be better. Just barely, though. "You know, Raph," Donnie begins, slight irritation coming through as his voice cuts into the night. "I don't remember ever hearing you complain about our electricity...and our wifi...And, not to mention---" He stops talking immediately as Raphael's three-fingered hand forms a fist.

    A soft sigh comes from Donatello as he gives one last look in the direction of the beloved electronics store before turning to follow his brother. "I know someone with a tail," he replies quietly.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
And Someone With A Tail is finally coming to a stop in the middle of the nearby rooftop, which is lower than the Turtles' vantage point- so they can clearly see him, but our ninjas can easily remain hidden if they so choose. Aside from, you know, the fact that they are ninjas.

Vorpal pants a little and chooses a place to start his cooldown stretches, still singing off-key.



"Cool town, evening in the city
Dressing so fine and looking so pretty
Cool cat, looking for a kitty
Gonna look in every corner of the city
Till I'm wheezing like a-"

Stop.

"Oh god, is that GUM?" he says, a little louder than he intended, as he looks down at where he has stepped with a horrified look. In the short time that he has led the double life as a feline avenger, he has come to realize that the greatest nemesis of all is bubble gum, when you are covered in fur.

Kainashi has posed:
    Cat.

    /Cat/.

        CAT.

    Kainashi tenses. Something new. A new smell. Distracted from the food (which is no easy feat of itself), and from the oddly familiar smell in the distance of Eau d'Sewer, her tail rises up. Her ears perk. The back of her neck bristles up -- and before perhaps Alopex even knows what's happening, the canine *LAUNCHES* herself from the side of the building they were sequestered on, and gives chase to the off-key singing feline!

Alopex has posed:
    This is... problematic. This fox was hungry and now, instead of the ordered meaty pizza showing up for delivery, Alopex's canine partner just -took- off for reasons that aren't immidiately clear to her. "Wha-?!" Surprised? Yes. A quick look at the pup's trajectory, then seeing the other down below. "... Oh you MUST BE JOKING!" she barks before reaching into her pack, chomping a couple of ice cubes, and then she takes off after Kai.

Raphael has posed:
"Bro, we're patrolling. I said we could stop and check the stuff out, but we ain't carrying none of it back ourselves," Raphael points out, then he adds, "And you're gonna have to be a little more specific. We been runnin' across a few different things with tails lately."

This particular one is doing some remarkably bad caterwauling, which leaves him to cringe as he reaches a rooftop with a good view down on Vorpal and the incident with the gum. Oh, yeah. Been there, done that. Ain't gonna say it and give anything away. He puts a finger to his lips and looks at Donatello with an open question in his expression, jerking a thumb down at the feline and mouthing, 'Tail?'

But then, more motion leads to briefly drawing back as he assesses what it is. Familiar coloring, and he makes a face. "F'n really?" he asks, unable to resist although he keeps his voice down. "I mean, /really?/"

At least the dog didn't pin him with a dumpster last time.

"Hold up, Donnie. I wanna see what happens next," Raph chuckles. Cat. Dog. C'mon.

Donatello has posed:
    "Kai has a tail," Donnie replies quietly, getting more specific. "My new friend. She was helping me find my shuriken..." There's a pause. "Leo doesn't know I haven't found it, so, uh..." Donatello's voice halts, his eyes follow Raphael's thumb down to the cat and his gum. Donnie looks back up at Raph and shakes his head while shrugging his shoulders once. He doesn't recognize Vorpal in cat form thanks to the flight path of that lost shuriken.

    But then...Donnie catches the same motion as his brother. His brow raises and he looks back to Raph. "There she is," he calls over to him.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Augh, now I'm going to have to clog the bathtub getting rid of this thing!" he walks. Squelch. Step. Squelch. Step. He then shifts over to the modified "I Have Stepped In Gum" shuffle, which comprises of walking normally with one foot while only using the heel of the other, often tilted at a jaunty angle that gives the impression you are trying to audition for the Vaudeville circuit in 1922 but haven't quite gotten the concept of what a soft-shoe is. Alternatively, one could view it as the 'We're Doing The Pirates Of Penzanze and Our Choreographer Is The Conductor's Cousin' dance, depending on your theatrical experience.

"Friggin'.... darnit.... who the hell chews gum on a rooftop? Are you friggin' ..."

It's instinctive. Ears perk, whiskers twitch and the tail lashes. Vorpal turns at a moment's notice and his night vision lets him see the barrelling canine threat coming his way.

And his feline brain immediately comes up with one answer.

He runs pretty fast, and he is incredibly nimble, which is a good thing when there is /that/ chasing you. "YOU HAVE /GOT/ TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!" he shouts as he takes off like a shot, leaving long strips of gum behind him until there is no more left to stretch.

Kainashi has posed:
    THE CHASE IS ON! There is a scarred-up bipedal pitbull chasing after Terry now, eyes alight, nearly nimble as he. She springs u, tailing him, the white scarring accross her muzzle and stretching up to her forehead giving her quite the intimidating look, though she's relatively... short. Only a mere five feet... but it's enough! Unaware of her audience, but clearly (from behind), having fun, the canine's heart is pounding in her chest as she tails the cat closely, keeping up. Plus side? He doesn't have to worry about that gum!

Alopex has posed:
    "Stop, stop stop stop!" Of course, Alopex doesn't expect that to work, but she has to try as she works on sprinting to catch up to the instinct-driven canine chasing the other. Note to self: Training involving cats and NOT CHASING AFTER THEM. This has to be a thing that happens. Soon. ... Before Kai is introduced to Sally Pride. ... Did she meet her? There was no chase then, was there???? Distraction. Can wait. More running. more Ice.

Raphael has posed:
"Yeah, I know that one. The other one? Nah," Raphael remarks as Kainashi gets more on the scene.

Then, Vorpal is off and running, chased by the dog.

Then, Alopex turns up, going after /both/ of them.

Raphael does arch a brow again. "You lost a shuriken? Just go grab another one from the extras. Nobody has to know, especially Leo." His voice is still hushed as he eyes the commotion below. "I dunno about you, but I didn't expect this kinda entertainment tonight. I /guess/ we'd better go make sure she doesn't leave pieces of cat all over the place, though." Make that four, soon to be five odd creatures all headed in the same direction, all in succession, as Raphael keeps the high road en route to following, leaping across a gap between buildings without a sound.

Donatello has posed:
    Is this what being Raphael is always like? Keeping secrets from Leo? A smile creeps onto Donatello's wide mouth and he nods at his older brother's suggestion to lie about the shuriken. "For once, Raph," he begins. "I agree with you."

    But then, they're on the move! Donatello grips his bo staff and runs a few steps behind Raphael, leaping across alleys as they find them. As the pair zip from building to building, an idea slides through Donnie's head. He reaches to the makeshift belt that goes across his waist. Jump. His fingers begin fumbling for an object tucked into the material. Jump. Donnie removes a small infrared flashlight from the belt and grips it tightly in one hand. Jump. He rests his thumb against the button and clicks it a few times. Dogs are supposed to have pretty good hearing, right?

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Keep running keep running keep running! Adrenaline is high and his fight-or-flight response has clearly chosen 'flight' for this occasion. There are several obstacles that he navigates- a vent, a cooling unit, a park bench (con't ask) in his frantic escape from the jaws of doom.

In his flight, though, there is a little voice that is starting to say something. Look up. Look up.

He was looking down briefly to make sure the course was clear, but up ahead there is something that causes his heart to fall:

A wall. Or, rather, technically speaking, another building that juts above this rooftop and which is, basically, too close for there to be any space between them. And even more to his dismay, there does not seem to be a fire escape or anything like that that he can use- just smooth brick.

"Crap!"

Okay. Maybe it was time to put those lessons from Harley into motion. Amazingly, he decides to double his speed and head towards that wall as fast as he can!

Kainashi has posed:
    Terry's on the run, but Kainashi is on his heels, dog-breath against his back, jaws of freaking DOOM showing every jagged,dangerous tooth, the foam of drool from the corners of her mouth as she follows behind -- she leaps the vent, dashes around the cooling unit and that park bench?

    Park-our'ed!

And just as she begins to get a whiff, with the wind changing, of Alopex in close following, and the familiar scents of the turtles, the dog finally braces, and LEAPS as the lad takes off faster, reaching out with one hand to oh-so-lightly attempt to tap Vorpal's shoulder and breathlessly cry out:

    "TAG!"

Raphael has posed:
Raphael snorts. "That's right. Listen to good ol' Raph. He won't steer you wrong. Besides, you think Leo never loses one of those?"

That part of the conversation is left to sit while they pursue the pursuers. Poor cat, just out singing, badly at that, stepping in gum, then coming up on a wall that might be too much. Then...

"Bro, did she just /tag/ him?" He couldn't see quite clearly enough. Maybe Donatello had a better angle, whatever he's doing with whatever he's got. "Maybe we'd better get down there and make sure nothing gets too crazy." Relatively speaking.

Anyway, he leaps down and calls over, "All right, enough horsin' around! Even if there ain't any horses here. You know what I mean."

Donatello has posed:
    Raph does make a good point, Donatello decides. Who hasn't lost a shuriken? Probably someone who hasn't thrown one. "Yeah, you're probably right," Donnie agrees before focusing his attention on the game of tag.

    "Sure looks like that's what she did," Donnie calls over to Raph, nodding his head. And with that, Donnie tucks the infrared flashlight back into his belt, grips his bo staff, and lands just a few feet behind Raphael.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Harley says to jump at the wall, and then prepare to conserve momentum while pressing for upwa-

Vorpal's mind makes a screeching halt in the middle of remembering his lessons as a /tap/ on his shoulder is felt, and then the words register in his ear.

"Wait, did you just-"

ZOT

That was the sound of Vorpal, hitting the wall.

Thud.

That was the sound of the cat, falling over.

Kainashi has posed:
    Kainashi skids to a stop, narrowly avoiding squishing the cat into the wall, and instead trips, rolls, and goes top-over-teakettle flat against the wall, uside-down, before drawing down in a heap.

    She curls, and rolls to a kneel before giving a shake of her head, ears flapping about as she gives a bright smile -- or very toothy and threatening grimmace, depending on your point of view od dogs -- at the newer arrivals. "Hi Donatello! Hi Ralph!"

Raphael has posed:
Raphael approaches with caution, one hand near a sai, eyes sweeping the area - perhaps for any dumpsters or other large, easily hoisted items. Coast seems clear.

"It's Raph, and you wanna explain what's going on here, pup? Who's the cat..guy?" He's trying to stick to darker spots of the area, but that might not matter where a cat is concerned.

Pointing his free hand toward Kainashi, he adds, "Last time we ended on a good note, so don't you go doing anything like the time before that."

Donatello has posed:
    Donatello walks next to Raphael, though his body language is considerably more relaxed. His bo staff is pointed at the sky, gripped loosely in a three-fingered hand. His features brighten with the comfort of recognizing a friend.

    "Hey, Kai," he calls over, smiling broadly. He gestures to the cat with his bo staff. "You really take your tag pretty seriously, Kai."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
It is a night full of stars tonight, alright. Or are those stars behind his eyes? The Cheshire cat blinks a couple of times until the stars go away, and then he speaks.

".... ooow..."

On his back, he slowly looks 'up' and his feline eyes focus to notice his tapper, "... I said /ow/ ..."

And then his eyes go wide, it is clear he can see Raphael in the penumbra, and then he notices Donatello and wows. Taking in the trio, he says "You three are like me..." he slowly starts sitting up, rubbing his head and twitching a little, "Oh man... did I break my nose?" he reaches up to touch his tender nose, "I can't ruin my profile, all my photogenic product branding appeal will be gone!" he rubs the bridge and, satisfied that it is sore but not broken, he adds, "... why on earth did you chase me like that?"


Kainashi has posed:
    Kai had caught the white fox, from the corner of her eye, facepalming and retreating -- likely so that poor guy trying to find one twenty eight and a fifth doesn't say they stiffed him!


    She gives her friendliest smile, in spite of her scarred up face, and she motions to the Cheshire Cat.

    "Cat." she explains, as if it were the answer to everything, and she looks up, looking at the feline a moment, and then she points to him, with more emphasis. "Cat. Not Foot." she gives a cheery, toothy grin, and then rubs the back of her head, wrestling with something for a moment, "Serious tag. Good training."

Raphael has posed:
Raphael shifts a hand away from the sai, for now, as Kainashi appears to be more interested in discussing her triumph over the cat than coming back the turtle's way. That leaves him the opportunity to address Vorpal.

"Okay, before we go any further with all this, I got a deal to offer ya. We don't usually let others see us, because of reasons, so how about we keep this little meeting just between us? Otherwise, I wasn't the only one that just saw some cat guy go splat into a wall running away from the dog girl," he proposes, affixing the feline with a sharp look.

Other than that, he shrugs, "I dunno how much like you we are. Did you take a bath in a pool of goo?"

Not to be forgotten, he nudges at Donatello's side with an elbow, dropping his voice. "Oh, damn. Now I get it. That's the Kai Mikey was bugging you about, isn't it?"

Donatello has posed:
Likewise, Donnie reaches back with his bo and tucks it into the fabric belt that goes across his shell. He takes a step closer to Vorpal and lowers himself to one knee. Donnie squints a little bit, as if it might give him a better sense of the poor cat's nose.

"Doesn't look broken to me," he declares. Donnie stands up straight and extends a hand to help Vorpal up, if he wants.

Brothers are seriously overrated, sometimes. Donnie stares DAGGERS at Raphael and his question. "Shut /up/, Raph," he replies in a hushed tone.

"Training with tag, huh? That's a pretty good idea," Donnie exclaims suddenly. "We should tell Mas---we should remember that."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Vorpal gives Kai a look, as if trying to comprehend. Canine minds are a world of their own, and the Cheshire is only familiar with one other world. "... right, that's a great training. Next time I'll try to miss the wall..."

He takes Donnie's hand and gladly accepts the help. His green eyes pause and look at the turtle with the purple mask, and suddenly says "Oh, hey- it's you!" he says, apparently recognizing the turtle, "I'm glad to see Killer Croc didn't hurt ya- I tried to get to you but then Apr-" he pauses.

Wait. He was a human back there. Crap. That's another foot in his mouth from enthusiasm. He quickly turns to Raphael and says "Right, don't worry, lips are sealed. Don't besmirch my cool..." he looks from Kai to Raph to Don, and huhs.

"So I take it you're probably /not/ from Wonderland?"

Because that's an odd ice breaker, if there was one.

Kainashi has posed:
    Kainashi politely ignores that anyone was bugging anyone else about her. Instead, her tail gives a bit of a wag.

    "Big guy... Killer Croc? With the little... toasters?" she ventures, holding her hand up and making chomping motions with it like a mouser, and glances from Raphael, to Donatello, to Vorpal, and she urses her lips as he asks her where she's from and she states: "... I think I'm from Queens."

Raphael has posed:
Suspicion reigns in Raphael's attitude and expression. There is a reason he's the protective one of the group, maybe even more than Leonardo in ways. Leo's the thoughtful strategist. Raph is more prone to go hit someone first and ask questions if he gets around to thinking about it.

"You two know each other?" he asks Donatello with a show of surprise, gesturing between turtle brother and pink/purple/salmon/whatever feline. Leaving the purple-masked one to aid the cat back to his feet, the red-masked brother, a bit shorter and more burly, crosses his arms. "My brothers say I got a hard head, but even I ain't gonna go running into walls. Anyway, I'm Raphael, the handsome one. We came from..." This, he hesitates on saying further, giving Donatello a quick shrug as if to ask, 'What do you think?'

Kai, he leaves alone for now, both in goading Donnie, and in drawing the attention of.

Donatello has posed:
    After helping Vorpal to his feet, Donatello takes a step back to give him some room. Aren't there lots of YouTube videos of cats attacking turtles? Probably not mutant ninja ones, but still. Donnie takes that step back.

    Donnie glances to Raphael, sharing his look of surprise. He shrugs and turns back to face Vorpal. "Uh, yeah, but I don't remember seeing you there," he replies, pointing a large flat finger at the cat.

    Catching Raphael's shrug, Donnie tilts his head to the side, as if the gesture helps him access a distant memory. It's fuzzy. "...Uh, Eastman's...no...uh...Laird's...no..."

    "Some pet shop."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Vorpal stares at Kainashi, "Yeah! WIth the little bitey robots? You must have been there as well!" There was a mess of people. He'd seen a cat-woman who rescued the gecko dude. Donatello was easy to remember- it's hard to forget the lone turtle standing in the shadow of Killer Croc. Most people would assume that the following sequences would involve the turtle becoming red mist.

"Queens... Wonderland... not too different. Except the tea parties are better in Wonderland," he says with a raised eyebrow.

At Raph's introduction, the Cheshire raises his other eyebrow and mimics Raph's arm-crossing, "Raphael, the handsome one?" he decides to play along in good humor and looks from Raphael to Donatello and then back to Raphael. "I think you're selling your brothers short there. I'm Vorpal." He raises a hand and points at himself with his thumb, "The Cheshire Cat of Wonderland fame at your service."

And then he looks at Donatello when the purple-masked turtle admits not to remember him, the Cheshire says "Uh... I looked... a little different that night." Think fast. "I was wearing my glasses." Yes. That's the ticket.

"So you..." Oh god, here it comes, "You are the Pet Shop Boys?"

Kainashi has posed:
    Kainashi rubs the back of her head a moment, looking at Vorpal again, sniffing the air and she rubs the back of her head, shifting her weight as she sounds out his name. "Vooorr-ple." testing the sound out in her mouth before she gives a mumbled spattering of two or three words in different languages, then her tail gives a bit of a wag.

    "I don't remember you that night. I ripped a rail off to try and protect the people. People need protection. Not strong."

Raphael has posed:
"What kind of name is Vorpal supposed to be?" Raphael asks, as blunt as ever. "What does that even mean?" A glance toward Donatello follows, voice lowering again for all the good it may do him. "What's he talkin' about, Wonderland? The place in Central Park?"

He maintains his distance from Kainashi, since even though they are now no longer on attack terms, he is wary of the pup's strength. "I heard about that. The Mousers. We came across some weird robots not too long ago, too."

Vorpal mentioning looking different is lost on him and so is the reference he makes. "Uh..yeah? Donnie just said we was from a pet shop. Did that wall scramble yer brain or somethin'?"

He'll get better. Really.

Donatello has posed:
    Donatello's face forms a skeptical frown. Is his memory failing him? The cat DOES seems to know an awful lot about a fight he wasn't around to witness. He knows all about the MOUSERs.

    Donnie nods along with Kainashi's description of the night. He remembers her pulling off that rail but certainly doesn't remember the Cheshire Cat, glasses or no glasses. At Raph's question, Donnie shrugs his shoulders and leans in.

    "That's a statue, Raph. He can't be from a statue," he replies in a hushed tone. Straightening up, Donnie places a hand against his chest shell. "Well, I'm Donatello," he introduces. He lets the Pet Shop Boys comment go, but makes a mental note to Google that later.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"The Statue was inspired by the book about my home world. Mind you, I look rather different than when Alice was around, but who hasn't experienced morphological modification from a dimensional extrusion process, right?" Vorpal grins, and then squints. "... neither of you have read the book? Like, at all?" he asks with a voice that has a little heartbreak in it, part Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. Slightly crestfallen, his ears droop a little, "What is the world coming to?" he says quietly.

"Good on protecting. Protecting is very important. That's what I do. I'm part of a whole team that does that."

The cat looks at Raphael as he asks his question, and walks over to a ventilation. unit, where he sits, one leg crossed over the other, leaning back slightly, "Vorpal is a word from Wonderland. It's not my /real/ name- that's the Cheshire Cat, but ... I guess you don't really know who that is, I gather."

He decides not to push the Pet Shop Boys reference. He nows he's unusual for raiding his mother's old music collection. Because he's nosy. Like a cat. "So you are Kai..." he says to the canine, and then to the turtles "Whereas you are Raphael... and Donatello..." He taps his chin, "Interesting names. And interesting getup," he gestures to what the turtles are wearing. "I'm going to be nosy and ask the purpose behind the strips of cloth. I'm a cat. Curiosity is a thing we do..."

Kainashi has posed:
    Kainashi looks a little bit eeved at the mention of books. "Books'redumb." she mutters, her ears flicking back in irritation, the black tattooed ink in her left ear with Kanji clearly visible fr a moment, and she crosses her arms and gives a bit of a snort, her shoulders rising up.

    "Kainashi. It means 'useless'." she replies, and her tail then gives a wag, forgiving the cat for the book comment "So... your name is The Cheshire Cat, but you're called Vorpal? ... like a secret name? If we say it three times will you suddenly appear in unusual places?"

Raphael has posed:
"Yeah? How do you know it's just a statue, Donnie?" Raphael retorts, his eyes narrowing upon his brother. "Have you ever checked it? Made sure there are no secret doors inside that lead to hidden places weird-looking cats come out of? No? I didn't think so."

Flawless logic from a turtle teen, right there.

Until, that is, Vorpal's explanation is made. "That was gonna be my second guess. I saw a movie once," he adds, voice dropping a bit. "The cat in that one had a much bigger grin, and it looked a lot more, you know, like a cat."

For once, he agrees with Kainashi about something. "Yeah, who needs books? I've never learned anything useful from a book. Everything I know, I learned by doing. Books are for nerds."

It's a looooong few moments before he nudges Donatello again, adding, "Besides, this nerd here reads all the books for me."

He mutters, if reluctantly, "We're gonna have to find a new name for you, pup. You're pretty annoying when dumpsters are around, but..you ain't really useless. And," he finishes, eyeing the Vorpal Cheshire Cat, "the masks are kind of our own things, like our weapons."

Donatello has posed:
    Donatello frowns as he listens to Raphael totally accuse him of being in derelict of his duties as the statue inspector. He finishes off his frown with an eyeroll hidden by his purple bandana mask.

    His annoyance is overtaken with fascination as Vorpal mentions his transformation. It's like a secret language that Donnie is fluent in. "Woah, you really were extruded through the dimensional gap?" he asks, clearly impressed. "Does it really take less time to go through it than to not go through it? I was doing some calculations and, well, that's what I kept coming up with, which doesn't really make sense."

    But then, Donatello finds himself lying through his teeth. "Oh, uh," he begins, bringing a hand to the back of his head. "I hate reading, too, Kai. It's the worst, isn't it? All that...learning." His face feigns a look of utter disgust before settling on total teenage agony as his brother calls him a nerd. He turns a muddy brown color.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Books are /not/ dumb!"

The Cheshire springs to his feet and walks over to Donatello, quickly getting into his brainwave, "Actually that depends entirely if the entity in question is physical or not. As a Wonderlandean, I was a creature of pure thought, so crossing it for me took even less time- so much so that I actually got here /before/ I even started to cross. It was a whole mess and I had to wait for over an hour for timespace to catch up so as to avoid paradoxes." The cat grins when Donatello quickly walks his nerdhood back, and reaches over to drape an arm around the ninja's shoulders and says "/I/ think reading is awesome. I am fiends wih a sorceress who can do all sorts of things to reality, and she learns her magic by reading." He tilts his chin up in friendly defiance- Team Nerd: two, versus Team Books Are Dumb: Two.

"Right, the weapons. That's a sai, isn't it?" he asks of Rafael, looking at his belt. And then at Donatello "... and a stick."

Kainashi has posed:
    "Bo. Sticks are smaller." Kainashi states offhandedly in regards to Donatello's weapon. "Aaand books are still dumb. But it's OK if you like them. I like peanutbutter. Alopex likes salmon Diff'rent good. All same bad. Foot *really* bad." the doggo states, and rubs the back of her head. a brief moment.

    Then she looks to Raphael.

    "... pair-a-docks-us?"

Raphael has posed:
Raph looks very amused at Donatello going full nerd with the conversation he has with Vorpal, before he tries to shift course with Kai only for the coloration to form in his expression.

Vorpal's energetic reaction, not only in calling out his own opinion of books, leaves the red-masked turtle starting to look bored. He only comes back around as the weapons are pointed out, and he reaches down to grab both of his, twirl them in his hands as if they were six-shooters, then they get tucked away. "Yep, sai."

Then, Raphael busts out laughing, all but doubling over enough that the back of his shell is seen. "Stick! He called it a /stick,/ Donnie! Yeah, nice /twig/ ya got there, bro!"

Kai, with his attention on her again, receives a nod once he's gathered himself. "Foot /very/ bad. Pizza very good. And..I have no idea what a pair of whatever is. I ain't a nerd."

Donatello has posed:
    Donnie tries, so hard, to make sure his face doesn't match how interested his brain is in what Vorpal is saying. Nonphysical entities. A creature of pure thought. Time paradoxes. Donnie is really bought into this. It's as though he's in a cult and Vorpal is ladling out the low protein gruel. One word manages to snap Donnie out of the trance and easily get back to looking disgusted.

    "It's not a stick, it's a---"

    Bo. Donnie's eyes snap back to Kainashi and nods!

    "Bo!" he exclaims, trying to say it in unison with the dog, but it's a few tenths of a second behind since they're not actually in sync. He reaches back to touch the back of his head again, awkwardly.

    Slowly, Donnie's face begins to subtly shift from awkwardness to almost pain. He's trying, so desperately, to contain his intense desire to explain what a paradox is. It could go either way, like the flip of a coin.

    "A temporal paradox is an apparent contradiction that forms as a possible consequence of time travel. Vorpal here obviously didn't want to get involved with anything that he might later contradict." It comes out all as a single flow of consciousness that Donnie immediately regrets, horror splashed across his face.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Bo, Bo, sorry, sorry- I'm not /as/ good with those names." He apologizes, and then he grins wide, very wide, to the point that he does look every bit the Cheshire, when Donnie goes full nerd. "See, that's exactly it. Listen to this guy," he says patting Donatello's shoulder, "His advice will be invaluable if you ever find yourself way in over your heads. Anyone can hit things, but it takes a nerd to build awesome lasers. Cyborg is our nerd over at the tower, and he makes hovering stuff and flying stuff and stuff that shoots /beams/ and..." by the Tower he means, of course, the Titans Tower. While Vorpal may not be as known, Cyborg is definitely a name anyone would associate with the Titans.

"Bo, Sai. Hmm... so I guess you guys handle that sort of weapon."

A pause, and then he looks at Raphael. "Do you guys use those fancy throwing star things? Only asking because one of those almost took my eye out on that night with the robots- it almost bounced off me and hit April, too."

Kainashi has posed:
    Kainashi looks to Raphael, and then just slowly blinks. "Well. You said you were the handsome one."

    And then her attention turns back to Donatello as he begins to explain the proces, and she gives a slight wag of her tail -- why? Because Donnie knows his stuff, and isn't explaining it to her like she's dumb. Which she is, but she appreciates a genuine vote of confidence.

    "I have no idea what you said, but you sound smart so I'll trust you." she states, her scarred face stretching into a genuine smile with a wag of her tail, and then one ear rises up, and her head cants.

    "... sorry, I should go. She worries. And I'm hungry." she explains quizically, and she gives a wave. "Bye Riff, Donatello, nice to meet you Vorpral!" she chipperly calls out, and taking her leave, she nimbly hops the side of a building, and disappears.

    Likely becuase FOOD.

Raphael has posed:
As Donatello and Vorpal bond over their nerddom, Raphael is busy. A sai winds up in hand and he uses his body to block whatever he's doing, scraping something into the wall carefully.

For a moment, he holds up a shuriken he fishes out of the belt he wears, which aside from the mask and other padding and wraps, is all the clothing the turtles typically have. "One of these?" he replies, before tucking it away again and getting back to work.

"What..?" he asks Kai, completely missing what calling himself the handsome one has to do with anything, then he shakes his head. Any potential interest he's got in what they're talking about is kept to himself, for he is in the midst of /doing a thing/ and cannot be interrupted. "Later, pup."

Then, he wraps his little project up, nodding once to himself. "Donnie, I'm gonna go scrounge us up something to eat. Come find me when you're done." After leaving, his wall artistry is revealed, directed toward his brother and the feline in deep conversation:

N E R D S ---->